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Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

modified 2018/11/02

Quick review:

At times it felt sort of like a set of disconnected essays written by a bored student. There were some interesting ideas, but it felt shallow and disconnected.

Questions raised:

Covered many different things, and talked about lots of questions that other books, to my mind, answer better.

Insights, lessons learnt:

Some interesting thoughts about colonialism and morality (“natural”)

Highlights:

Just as human politicians on election campaigns go around shaking hands
and kissing babies, so aspirants to the top position in a chimpanzee
group spend much time hugging, back-slapping and kissing baby chimps.
location 402

When in 1896 Armand Peugeot wanted to create his company, he paid a
lawyer to go through all these sacred procedures. Once the lawyer had
performed all the right rituals and pronounced all the necessary spells
and oaths, millions of upright French citizens behaved as if the Peugeot
company really existed. Telling effective stories is not easy. The
difficulty lies not in telling the story, but in convincing everyone
else to believe it. Much of history revolves around this question: how
does one convince millions of people to believe particular stories about
gods, or nations, or limited liability companies? location 492

Artefacts made of more perishable materials - such as wood, bamboo or
leather - survive only under unique conditions. The common impression
that pre-agricultural humans lived in an age of stone is a misconception
based on this archaeological bias. The Stone Age should more accurately
be called the Wood Age, because most of the tools used by ancient
hunter-gatherers were made of wood. location 662

The dog was the first animal domesticated by Homo sapiens, and this
occurred before the Agricultural Revolution. Experts disagree about the
exact date, but we have incontrovertible evidence of domesticated dogs
from about 15,000 years ago. location 717

Any attempt to describe the specifics of archaic spirituality is highly
speculative, as there is next to no evidence to go by and the little
evidence we have - a handful of artefacts and cave paintings - can be
interpreted in myriad ways. The theories of scholars who claim to know
what the foragers felt shed much more light on the prejudices of their
authors than on Stone Age religions. location 871

Within a few thousand years, virtually all of these giants vanished. Of
the twenty-four Australian animal species weighing fifty kilograms or
more, twenty-three became extinct. A large number of smaller species
also disappeared. Food chains throughout the entire Australian ecosystem
were broken and rearranged. It was the most important transformation of
the Australian ecosystem for millions of years. Was it all the fault of
Homo sapiens? location 1014

What then did wheat offer agriculturists, including that malnourished
Chinese girl? It offered nothing for people as individuals. Yet it did
bestow something on Homo sapiens as a species. location 1263

clearly it did offer something to individuals, or else they would not
use it?

The average person in Jericho of 8500 BC lived a harder life than the
average person in Jericho of 9500 BC or 13,000 BC. But nobody realised
what was happening. Every generation continued to live like the previous
generation, making only small improvements here and there in the way
things were done. Paradoxically, a series of ‘improvements’, each of
which was meant to make life easier, added up to a millstone around the
necks of these farmers. location 1318

The pursuit of an easier life resulted in much hardship, and not for the
last time. It happens to us today. How many young college graduates have
taken demanding jobs in high-powered firms, vowing that they will work
hard to earn money that will enable them to retire and pursue their real
interests when they are thirty-five? But by the time they reach that
age, they have large mortgages, children to school, houses in the
suburbs that necessitate at least two cars per family, and a sense that
life is not worth living without really good wine and expensive holidays
abroad. What are they supposed to do, go back to digging up roots? No,
they double their efforts and keep slaving away. location 1335

false dicothomy? They can live comfortably on less money, without
“digging up roots”. Absurd piece of writing.

In the wild, cattle roamed as they pleased in herds with a complex
social structure. The castrated and domesticated ox wasted away his life
under the lash and in a narrow pen, labouring alone or in pairs in a way
that suited neither its body nor its social and emotional needs. When an
ox could no longer pull the plough, it was slaughtered. location 1438

The handful of millennia separating the Agricultural Revolution from the
appearance of cities, kingdoms and empires was not enough time to allow
an instinct for mass cooperation to evolve. Despite the lack of such
biological instincts, during the foraging era, hundreds of strangers
were able to cooperate thanks to their shared myths. However, this
cooperation was loose and limited. location 1552

The two texts present us with an obvious dilemma. Both the Code of
Hammurabi and the American Declaration of Independence claim to outline
universal and eternal principles of justice, but according to the
Americans all people are equal, whereas according to the Babylonians
people are decidedly unequal. The Americans would, of course, say that
they are right, and that Hammurabi is wrong. Hammurabi, naturally, would
retort that he is right, and that the Americans are wrong. In fact, they
are both wrong. Hammurabi and the American Founding Fathers alike
imagined a reality governed by universal and immutable principles of
justice, such as equality or hierarchy. Yet the only place where such
universal principles exist is in the fertile imagination of Sapiens, and
in the myths they invent and tell one another. These principles have no
objective validity. location 1641

To say that a social order is maintained by military force immediately
raises the question: what maintains the military order? It is impossible
to organise an army solely by coercion. At least some of the commanders
and soldiers must truly believe in something, be it God, honour,
motherland, manhood or money. location 1698

From the moment they are born, you constantly remind them of the
principles of the imagined order, which are incorporated into anything
and everything. They are incorporated into fairy tales, dramas,
paintings, songs, etiquette, political propaganda, architecture, recipes
and fashions. For example, today people believe in equality, so it’s
fashionable for rich kids to wear jeans, which were originally
working-class attire. In the Middle Ages people believed in class
divisions, so no young nobleman would have worn a peasant’s smock. Back
then, to be addressed as ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’ was a rare privilege reserved
for the nobility, and often purchased with blood. Today all polite
correspondence, regardless of the recipient, begins with ‘Dear Sir or
Madam’. location 1717

Friends giving advice often tell each other, ‘Follow your heart.’ But
the heart is a double agent that usually takes its instructions from the
dominant myths of the day, and the very recommendation to ‘follow your
heart’ was implanted in our minds by a combination of nineteenth-century
Romantic myths and twentieth-century consumerist myths. location 1747

Modern Westerners are taught to scoff at the idea of racial hierarchy.
They are shocked by laws prohibiting blacks to live in white
neighbourhoods, or to study in white schools, or to be treated in white
hospitals. But the hierarchy of rich and poor - which mandates that rich
people live in separate and more luxurious neighbourhoods, study in
separate and more prestigious schools, and receive medical treatment in
separate and better-equipped facilities - seems perfectly sensible to
many Americans and Europeans. Yet it’s a proven fact that most rich
people are rich for the simple reason that they were born into a rich
family, while most poor people will remain poor throughout their lives
simply because they were born into a poor family. location 2059

Interestingly research now points to their being a genetic factor, so
a rich family child adopted by a poor family may well be richer (on
average) than if adopted by another rich family. Extent unclear
though.

Harry Potter is a good example. Removed from his distinguished wizard
family and brought up by ignorant muggles, he arrives at Hogwarts
without any experience in magic. It takes him seven books to gain a firm
command of his powers and knowledge of his unique abilities. location
2081

If you want to keep any human group isolated - women, Jews, Roma, gays,
blacks - the best way to do it is convince everyone that these people
are a source of pollution. location 2104

The Bible decrees that ‘If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed,
and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who
lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels
of silver, and she shall be his wife’ (Deuteronomy 22:28-9). The ancient
Hebrews considered this a reasonable arrangement. location 2202

How can we distinguish what is biologically determined from what people
merely try to justify through biological myths? A good rule of thumb is
‘Biology enables, culture forbids.’ Biology is willing to tolerate a
very wide spectrum of possibilities. It’s culture that obliges people to
realise some possibilities while forbidding others. Biology enables
women to have children - some cultures oblige women to realise this
possibility. Biology enables men to enjoy sex with one another - some
cultures forbid them to realise this possibility. Culture tends to argue
that it forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological
perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition
also natural. A truly unnatural behaviour, one that goes against the
laws of nature, simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition.
location 2232

Yes!

Throughout Elizabeth’s forty-five-year reign, all Members of Parliament
were men, all officers in the Royal Navy and army were men, all judges
and lawyers were men, all bishops and archbishops were men, all
theologians and priests were men, all doctors and surgeons were men, all
students and professors in all universities and colleges were men, all
mayors and sheriffs were men, and almost all the writers, architects,
poets, philosophers, painters, musicians and scientists were men.
location 2301

Another example is the modern political order. Ever since the French
Revolution, people throughout the world have gradually come to see both
equality and individual freedom as fundamental values. Yet the two
values contradict each other. Equality can be ensured only by curtailing
the freedoms of those who are better off. Guaranteeing that every
individual will be free to do as he wishes inevitably short-changes
equality. location 2436

Yes!

Cognitive dissonance is often considered a failure of the human psyche.
In fact, it is a vital asset. Had people been unable to hold
contradictory beliefs and values, it would probably have been impossible
to establish and maintain any human culture. location 2453

Tomatoes, chilli peppers and cocoa are all Mexican in origin; they
reached Europe and Asia only after the Spaniards conquered Mexico.
Julius Caesar and Dante Alighieri never twirled tomato-drenched
spaghetti on their forks (even forks hadn’t been invented yet), William
Tell never tasted chocolate, and Buddha never spiced up his food with
chilli. Potatoes reached Poland and Ireland no more than 400 years ago.
The only steak you could obtain in Argentina in 1492 was from a llama.
location 2519

The Zheng He expeditions prove that Europe did not enjoy an outstanding
technological edge. What made Europeans exceptional was their
unparalleled and insatiable ambition to explore and conquer. Although
they might have had the ability, the Romans never attempted to conquer
India or Scandinavia, the Persians never attempted to conquer Madagascar
or Spain, and the Chinese never attempted to conquer Indonesia or
Africa. location 4314

Thanks to the work of people like William Jones and Henry Rawlinson, the
European conquerors knew their empires very well. Far better, indeed,
than any previous conquerors, or even than the native population itself.
Their superior knowledge had obvious practical advantages. Without such
knowledge, it is unlikely that a ridiculously small number of Britons
could have succeeded in governing, oppressing and exploiting so many
hundreds of millions of Indians for two centuries. Throughout the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fewer than 5,000 British
officials, about 40,000-70,000 British soldiers, and perhaps another
100,000 British business people, hangers-on, wives and children were
sufficient to conquer and rule up to 300 million Indians. location 4459

Due to their close cooperation with science, these empires wielded so
much power and changed the world to such an extent that perhaps they
cannot be simply labelled as good or evil. They created the world as we
know it, including the ideologies we use in order to judge them.
location 4487

Interesting point about creating the ideologies we use to judge them

Banks are allowed to loan \$10 for every dollar they actually possess,
which means that 90 per cent of all the money in our bank accounts is
not covered by actual coins and notes. location 4558

The fact is, it’s not a deception, but rather a tribute to the amazing
abilities of the human imagination. What enables banks - and the entire
economy - to survive and flourish is our trust in the future. This trust
is the sole backing for most of the money in the world. location 4562

Louis XV found it more and more difficult to raise credit. This became
one of the chief reasons that the overseas French Empire fell into
British hands. While the British could borrow money easily and at low
interest rates, France had difficulties securing loans, and had to pay
high interest on them. location 4826

In the late nineteenth century, about 40 million Chinese, a tenth of the
country’s population, were opium addicts. location 4854

In 1821 the Greeks rebelled against the Ottoman Empire. The uprising
aroused great sympathy in liberal and romantic circles in Britain - Lord
Byron, the poet, even went to Greece to fight alongside the insurgents.
But London financiers saw an opportunity as well. They proposed to the
rebel leaders the issue of tradable Greek Rebellion Bonds on the London
stock exchange. The Greeks would promise to repay the bonds, plus
interest, if and when they won their independence. Private investors
bought bonds to make a profit, or out of sympathy for the Greek cause,
or both. The value of Greek Rebellion Bonds rose and fell on the London
stock exchange in tempo with military successes and failures on the
battlefields of Hellas. The Turks gradually gained the upper hand. With
a rebel defeat imminent, the bondholders faced the prospect of losing
their trousers. The bondholders’ interest was the national interest, so
the British organised an international fleet that, in 1827, sank the
main Ottoman flotilla in the Battle of Navarino. After centuries of
subjugation, Greece was finally free. But freedom came with a huge debt
that the new country had no way of repaying. The Greek economy was
mortgaged to British creditors for decades to come. location 4861

There simply is no such thing as a market free of all political bias.
The most important economic resource is trust in the future, and this
resource is constantly threatened by thieves and charlatans. Markets by
themselves offer no protection against fraud, theft and violence. It is
the job of political systems to ensure trust by legislating sanctions
against cheats and to establish and support police forces, courts and
jails which will enforce the law. When kings fail to do their jobs and
regulate the markets properly, it leads to loss of trust, dwindling
credit and economic depression. That was the lesson taught by the
Mississippi Bubble of 1719, and anyone who forgot it was reminded by the
US housing bubble of 2007, and the ensuing credit crunch and recession.
location 4894

About 600 years passed between the invention of gunpowder and the
development of effective artillery. location 5014

Consumerism has worked very hard, with the help of popular psychology
(‘Just do it’) to convince people that indulgence is good for you,
whereas frugality is self-oppression. location 5187

maybe more that indulgence is a status symbol, whereas frugality is
the opposite?

Each year the US population spends more money on diets than the amount
needed to feed all the hungry people in the rest of the world. location
5197

TODO: look for citation

If we accept a mere tenth of what animal-rights activists are claiming,
then modern industrial agriculture might well be the greatest crime in
history. location 5663

yes

When evaluating global happiness, it is wrong to count the happiness
only of the upper classes, of Europeans or of men. Perhaps it is also
wrong to consider only the happiness of humans. location 5664

Yes! Although this one sentence could be a book. Population ethics is
a total headache